Rotary brush for suction cleaners



May 10, 1955 L. G. WALLER ROTARY BRUSH FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Filed Nov. 24. 1950 A t: n@

INVENTOR.

ne G. VALLE United States Patent Office 2,707,792 Patented May 10, 1955 2,707,792 ROTARY BRUSH FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Lyle G. Waller, Clinton, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Henney Motor Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 24, 1950, Serial No. 197,233

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-182) This invention relates to suction cleaners in general and has particular reference to a new and improved rotary agitator for use in a suction cleaner.

, A principal object of the invention is to provide a new and improved rotary agitator for a suction cleaner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rotary brush which is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rotary agitator in which the brush elements are secured to a disposable sleeve of fibrous or plastic material so that when the brush elements have become worn through use, the sleeve may be removed from the agitator body and discarded and a new sleeve inserted into the body and to which sleeve new brush elements may be secured.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rotary agitator having removable and replaceable brush elements.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claim and may be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, of which there is one sheet, which by way of illustration show a preferred embodiment of the invention and what l now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying the principles of my invention. Other embodiments of the invention may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevational view of a suction cleaner embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View through the rotary agitator; and

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of the agitator with parts broken away.

The suction cleaner disclosed in Fig. l is of the conventional oor type and may comprise a casing or body having a nozzle 12 at the front end thereof, a fan 14 driven by an electric motor (not shown), an air passageway 16 between the nozzle 12 and the inlet 18 to the fan 14, front and rear wheels 20 and 22 for supporting the cleaner for movement over a surface covering to be cleaned, a handle 24 for maneuvering the cleaner over the surface covering, a dirt collecting and filtering bag 26, and a rotary agitator 28 rotatably supported within the nozzle 12 and connected by a belt 30 to a shaft 32 of the electric motor so as to be driven upon operation of the motor. The nozzle 12 has a downwardly presented mouth 34 arranged to pass over the surface covering and through which air and dirt are drawn into the nozzle and air passageway and discharged by the fan 14 into the dirt collecting and filtering bag 26.

The rotary agitator 28 comprises a hollow cylindrical body 36 having a groove 38 intermediate the ends thereof forming a pulley for the belt 30. A hollow sleeve 40,

which may be made of wax impregnated paper or any other suitable fibrous or plastic material, is arranged within the cylindrical body 36 at each end thereof, and the sleeves 40 may be pressed into the body 36 so as to have a tight, non-rotatable fit therewith. As shown in Fig. 2, each of the sleeves 40 extends from one end of the cylinder 36 to the pulley 38 formed on the cylinder 36.

The mounting means for the agitator within the suction nozzle 12 is most clearly shown in Fig. 4. The ends of the agitator are identical in construction and comprise an end cap 42 seated in a groove 44 on the cylinder 36. The cap 42 has a tight lit with the cylinder 36 and is adapted to rotate therewith. A suitable bearing 46 is secured within a central hub 48 provided on the end cap 42, and a shaft 5t) extends through the bearings 46. The cylinder 36 and sleeves 4i) and end caps 42 all rotate freely about the shaft 50.

A thread guard 52 having an annular flange 54 is arranged to overlie the end cap 42. A fiber washer 56 is secured to the thread guard 52 and is provided on the inner face thereof with a rubber face 58 against which the end cap 42 is seated. The end cap 42 is provided with an annular groove 60 at the periphery thereof for receiving the washer 56, 58.

The thread guard S2 has a rectangular hub 62 having a recess 64 therein provided with a nut 66 and a lock washer 68. The shaft 5t) has a reduced end 70 extending through the end cap 52 and into the recess 64. The nut 66 is threaded on to the threaded end 70 of the shaft 50 for securing the thread guard 52 against the shoulder '72 on the shaft 50. The hubs 62 on the thread guards 52 are rectangular and offset from the axis of the shaft 50.

The nozzle 12 at each end thereof is provided with downwardly opening slots 74 for receiving the hubs 62 of the thread guards 52, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Levers 76 pivotally mounted to each end wall of the nozzle by means of screws 78 are provided for locking the agitator in position within the nozzle. A spring 80 secured at one end to the nozzle by a pin 82 is secured at the other end to the lever 76. The springs 80 are tensioned so that the ends thereof are biased toward each other so as to hold the levers 76 in either the solid line position shown in Fig. 3 or in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3. When it is desired to remove the agitator from the nozzle the levers 76 may be shifted to the dotted line position of Fig. 3 so as to free the hubs 62 for movement downwardly within the channels 74.

The cylindrical body 36 is provided with a plurality of spaced rows of openings therein and through which openings brush elements 84 may be secured to the sleeves 40 by means of staples 86, or in any other suitable manner. The peripheral surface of the sleeves 40 may be provided with recesses arranged in the same pattern as the openings 75 in the cylindrical body 36. The brush tufts 84- are secured to the sleeves 40 after the sleeves 40 have been press fitted into the cylinder 36.

Due tothe offset construction of the hubs 62, the shaft S0 may be lowered with respect to the nozzle mouth 34 when the bristles of the brush elements have become slightly worn so that such worn brush elements may still operatively engage the surface covering over which the cleaner is moved. Arrangements similar to that just described have often been provided in suction cleaners for compensating for wear of the brush elements. In such constructions, however, when the brush tufts of the agi- J tator are worn to a sufficient extent, the brush becomes useless and it is necessary to replace the worn agitator with a new agitator.

By means of this invention it is not necessary to discard the entire agitator when the brush elements have become worn. When the brush elements 84 have been worn to the extent that they are no longer eicient to beat and/ or effet/792 sweep the dirt from the surface covering, the agitator may be removed from the cleaner and the mounting means and end caps disassembled from the cylinder 36. Sincc the sleeves 40 are made of paper or other fibrous or plastic material, such sleeves may be cut, as by a knife, or otherwise mutilated or deformed, so as to permit removal of the sleeves together with the brush tufts secured thereto from the open ends of the cylinder 36. New sleeves 4() may then be pressed into the ends of the cylinder 36 and new brush elements 84 may then be secured to the sleeves 40 through the openings 75 in the cylinder 36. It will therefore be seen that the provision of the disposable sleeves 40 eliminates the necessity of discardingy the entire agitator unit when the brushes are worn out.

The agitator 28 need not be provided with the specific mounting means shown, which are for purposes of illustration only, and it is contemplated that a rotary brush embodying the invention may be used in devices other than the specific suction cleaner shown and described.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred em- Lt bodiment of my invention, it is understood that this is capable of modiiication, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claim.

I claim:

lA rotary agitator for use in a suction nozzle comprising a hollow cylindrical body adapted to be rotatably supported within said nozzle, a hollow sleeve arranged within said body and having a tight, frictional, nonrotatable fit relative thereto, said body having a plurality of rows of openings extending along the length thereof, and brush tufts secured to said sleeve and projecting therefrom through said openings in said body and beyond the peripheral surface of said body, said sleeve having its inner periphery exposed within said body and accessible from the ends thereof, said sleeve being made ol wax impregnated paper material whereby said sleeve may ,Hl be cut and removed together with said brush tufts from said body through the ends thereof when said brush tufts are worn so as to permit insertion of another sleeve of similar construction into said body and to which other sleeve brush tufts may be secured through said openings in said body as aforesaid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 648,527 Richards May l, 1900 1,425,906 Sherbondy Aug. 15, 1922 .1,681,453 Wright Aug. 21, 1928 1,961,926 Gerhardt June 5, 1934 1,978,489 Dunn Oct. 30, 1934 2,372,404 Taylor Mar. 27, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 218,039 Switzerland Mar. 2, 1942 838,410 France Dec. 7, 1938 t, Virt 

